President of Botswana
| President of the Republic of Botswana | |
|---|---|
 Presidential flag | |
 | |
| Term length | 5 years, renewable once |
| Inaugural holder | Seretse Khama |
| Formation | 30 September 1966 |
| Deputy | Vice-President of Botswana |
| Salary | 65,760 USD annually[1] |
 |
|---|
| Constitution |
 Portal |
The President of the Republic of Botswana is the head of state and the head of government of Botswana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, according to the Constitution of Botswana.
The president is elected to a five-year term that runs concurrently with the term of the National Assembly. Since 1997, he has been limited to a total of 10 years in office (equivalent to two full terms), whether successive or separated. For example, if current president Mokgweetsi Masisi were to leave office in 2024, he could run again in 2029, but would have to leave office for good in 2034. Presidential elections are indirect; candidates for the legislature declare whom they endorse for president when they lodge their nomination papers, and the candidate who receives a majority of endorsements from the elected members of the National Assembly is automatically elected.[2][3][4] If no candidate receives a majority of endorsements, the National Assembly elects the president by simple majority, before it co-opts the specially elected members. If no president is elected after three ballots, or if the Speaker determines that no candidate has enough support to be elected, the legislature is automatically dissolved.[3] In practice, the president is the leader of the majority party in the Assembly.
Key
- Political parties
- Symbols
- † Died in office
Presidents of Botswana (1966–present)
| № | Picture | Name (Birth–Death) |
Elected | Term of office | Political Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| style="background:Template:Botswana Democratic Party/meta/color; color:white;" | 1 | File:1980, Founding President of Botswana() (cropped).jpg | Seretse Khama (1921–1980) |
1965 1969 1974 1979 |
30 September 1966 | 13 July 1980[†] | 13 years,
286 days |
BDP |
| style="background:Template:Botswana Democratic Party/meta/color; color:white;" | 2 | .jpg)
|
Quett Masire (1925–2017) |
1984 1989 1994 |
18 July 1980 | 31 March 1998 | 17 years,
256 days |
BDP |
| style="background:Template:Botswana Democratic Party/meta/color; color:white;" | 3 | 
|
Festus Mogae (1939–) |
1999 2004 |
1 April 1998 | 1 April 2008 | 10 years | BDP |
| style="background:Template:Botswana Democratic Party/meta/color; color:white;" | 4 | _(cropped).jpg)
|
Ian Khama (1953–) |
2009 2014 |
1 April 2008 | 1 April 2018 | 10 years | BDP |
| style="background:Template:Botswana Democratic Party/meta/color; color:white;" | 5 |
|
Mokgweetsi Masisi (1961–) |
2019 | 1 April 2018 | Incumbent | 1 year,
196 days |
BDP |
Lifespan timeline of presidents of Botswana
This is a graphical lifespan timeline of presidents of Botswana. The presidents are listed in order of office.
Unable to compile EasyTimeline input:
Timeline generation failed: 4 errors found
Line 26: at:2024 color:TODAY width:0.1
- LineData attribute 'at' invalid.
Date '2024' not within range as specified by command Period.
Line 46: from:2008 till:2024
- Plotdata attribute 'till' invalid.
Date '2024' not within range as specified by command Period.
Line 53: from:2018 till:2024
- Plotdata attribute 'till' invalid.
Date '2024' not within range as specified by command Period.
Line 58: from:2018 till:2024
- Plotdata attribute 'till' invalid.
Date '2024' not within range as specified by command Period.
Footnotes
- ^ "The highest and lowest paid African presidents - Business Daily".
- ^ Chaudry, Serena (2009-10-18). "Botswana's President Khama wins new term". The Independent. Reuters.
- ^ a b The President and Vice President. Chapter 4, Part I, Constitution of Botswana
- ^ Ntuane, Batsalo. Democratic forces must safeguard presidential term limits Archived 2018-06-23 at the Wayback Machine. Mwegi, 2006-05-22.
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}